SEASIDE, Calif. – Western Oregon University's men's basketball did not let the Tryptophan Effect from Thanksgiving dinner cause any downfall in their performance, as the Wolves extended their winning streak to three games with an 84-73 victory over California State University Monterey Bay Saturday inside The Kelp Bed.

Despite nearly giving up a 16-point halftime lead (44-28) within the opening six-and-a-half minutes of the second half thanks to a 17-4 run by CSUMB, Western Oregon used a 22-10 run over the game's final six-plus minutes en route to earning the win.

"We jumped on them early," said Head Coach Brady Bergeson. "We played very good basketball for the first 16 minutes, while the next 16 minutes got pretty sloppy. We allowed them to make large runs, bit in the end we sealed off their attack. Our defense was gritty in the closing minutes and we did a nice job finishing it off."

Western Oregon (4-2) had four players score in double figures led by junior Julian Nichols with 17 points, while three other Wolves – junior Jordan Wiley, junior Devon Alexander, and senior Lewis Thomas – added 16, 13, and 11 points, respectively. For the third straight game, Thomas also pulled down double-digits in rebounds with a game-high 14 boards to go along with a three assist night for Alexander. Junior Andy Avgi also aided the cause with eight points and six rebounds, while junior Jordan Schriber and senior Marwan Sarhan added six points each for WOU.

Monterey Bay (3-2) got a game-high 25 points from Evan Zeller on 8-of-15 shooting from the field to go along with a perfect 7-for-7 at the free throw line, while Greg Anderson also scored in double figures with 14 points. Zeller, Anderson, and Jorey Scott led the Otters with seven rebounds each, while Zeller and Mateo Jones handed out a game-high tying five assists each for CSUMB.

The game would begin with Cal State Monterey Bay grabbed a three-point lead (5-2) after the opening 65 seconds on a lay-in by Zeller before Western Oregon scored seven unanswered points en route to earning a 9-5 lead following a lay-in by Sarhan with 16:20 on the clock. The Wolves would push their lead to eight points (15-7) on a three-pointer by Wiley with 15:12 left, as WOU increased its advantage to 22-9 on a Schriber jumper two minutes later. CSUMB would pull within 10 points (27-17) on a free throw by Alex Fertig with just under 11 minutes remaining, as Western Oregon used a 7-2 run over a span of two-plus minutes en route to extending its lead to 15 points (34-19) on a jumper by Thomas with 8:29 on the clock. Four minutes later, the Wolves pushed their lead to a game-high 17 points (40-23) on a lay-in by Nichols with 4:17 left. Over the final four-plus minutes, Western Oregon continued to hold a double-digit lead taking a 16-point cushion (44-28) into halftime.

WOU began the second half with a fast break lay-in by Nichols with 18:40 left in the game that handed the Wolves a 46-30 lead. Over the next five minutes, Cal State Monterey Bay used a 15-2 run to pull within three points (48-45) on a fast break lay-in by Scott with 13:32 on the clock. Seventy seconds later, the Otters got within 50-48 before Western Oregon scored five straight points to pull ahead by seven points (55-48) on a lay-in by Alexander with 11:26 remaining. At the 7:28 mark, CSUMB took its first lead since the opening minutes of the game via a three-pointer by Anderson that handed the Otters a 62-60 lead. Over the next four minutes, Western Oregon used an 11-1 run that resulted in a 73-63 lead following back-to-back free throws bhy Wiley with just over four minutes left. The Wolves would push their lead to double digits (77-67) on a free throw by Alexander with 1:24 left, as WOU extended its advantage to 84-71 following a combined 7-for-8 performance at the free throw line over the game's final minute. Western Oregon would settle for an 11-point victory (84-73) after CSUMB scored the final points via a lay-in by Isaiah Smith.

As a team, Western Oregon combined to shoot 25-for-57 (43.9%) from the field that included a 16-for-30 (53.3%) performance over the opening twenty minutes of play. The Wolves were also 7-of-22 (31.8%) from beyond the three-point line and 27-for-31 (87.1%) at the free throw line. On the other hand, Cal State Monterey Bay was a combined 27-for-60 (45.0%) from the field, 5-of-16 (31.3%) from long distance, and 14-of-24 (58.3%) at the charity stripe.

Western Oregon will close out its Thanksgiving holiday road trip tomorrow – Saturday, November 29 – against Academy of Art University beginning at 3:00 p.m. inside Kezar Pavilion in San Francisco, California.